Friday, September 14, 2012

Building the Missing Link - The Green Lane Project

Memphis built its first traditional on-street bike lane in the fall of 2008. Just four years later, the city is finalizing plans to build and fund its first protected bike lanes along Tillman Street and Broad Avenue. This dramatic shift in the city’s focus was driven largely by the efforts of Memphians - business leaders and citizen advocates with the vision and courage to work together to build a better city, one street at a time.

Creating the Missing Link
The idea for a protected bike lane, or Green Lane, along Broad and Tillman grew from the need to build a missing link. On its eastern end, The Shelby Farms Greenline connects to the majestic 4,500 acre Shelby Farms Park. On the western end, Livable Memphis program coordinator Sarah Newstok saw an opportunity. “The greenline attracts such a diverse group of riders,” Newstok said in December of last year. “We wanted to get those riders all the way to Overton Park on the western side.”